The Gunpowder Plot The Gunpowder Plot Guy Fawkes Overview The Gunpowder Plot of 1605 was an attempt to kill James I, King of England. Catholic conspirators led by Robert Catesby placed kegs of gunpowder in the cellars of the Parliament Buildings on the night of November 4, 1605. They planned to ignite the gunpowder when James, his eldest son, Prince Henry, and Queen Ann attended the opening of Parliament the following day. One of the conspirators, Guy Fawkes, was deputed to stay with the gunpowder and ignite it at the opportune moment. However, word of the conspiracy leaked out, and royal officials captured Fawkes with the gunpowder. Fawkes, and several other of the conspirators, were put to death. Background When James VI of Scotland came to the English throne as James I, the country was highly polarized along religious lines. The English Reformation begun by Henry VIII had created a climate of religious intolerance, and radicals of both the Roman Catholic and Protestant camps had high hopes that the new king would champion their cause. Both sides were destined for disappointment; James was inclined towards neither camp.

Hampton Court Conference During the course of his journey south from Scotland, James was presented with the Millenary Petition, signed by a thousand clergymen. The Petition called for relaxation of ecclesiastical rules in favour of Nonconformist (i.e. Puritan) views. The king called the Hampton Court Conference to hear arguments on the points raised by the Petition. At Hampton Court the claims of the Nonconformists were rejected almost without exception. Round one to the Roman Catholics? Not only were the rules governing clergy not changed, new laws were passed which enforced those regulations even more strictly. Many clergy resigned their livings rather than toe the line. Despite James' lack of support for the Puritans, Parliament itself was highly sympathetic to the Puritan cause. The Main and Bye Plots James was disposed to be tolerant of the Catholic cause; certainly he favoured and end to hostilities with Catholic Spain. Unfortunately for the Catholics, however, two half-baked radical plots turned the king against them. The Main Plot planned to depose James and set his cousin Arabella Stuart on the throne.

The Bye Plot was even more far-fetched; the conspirators hoped to kidnap James and force him to repeal anti-Catholic legislation. The ultimate result of these plots was that James banished all Catholic priests from the kingdom. The site of Guy Fawkes' birthplace in York Recusancy Laws were in place which fined lay people for missing church service. Those (usually Catholics) who refused to attend service were called recusants. James initially favoured a relaxation of these laws, but it quickly became apparent that a great many people desired to skip church service! The laws were once more rigorously enforced. The Plot A group of Catholic extremists led by Sir Robert Catesby decided that the only hope for their cause lay in killing the king and raising the country in revolt. They hoped that in the confusion following the death of the king and his heir, along with many of the peers of the realm in the House of Lords, that they would be able to put a sympathetic king on the throne and foster a climate of freedom for Catholics. They believed, probably wrongly, that there was adequate public support for their cause.

The Conspirators The initial plot was hatched by five men, Robert Catesby, Thomas Percy, Thomas Wintour, John Wright and Guy Fawkes. Of these, the undoubted leader was Robert Catesby, son of Sir William Catesby, a prominent Catholic leader in the reign of Elizabeth I. Of these men the first four had noble connections, but Fawkes was nothing more than a disaffected soldier. At first the men hired lodgings near the Parliament buildings and attempted to tunnel into the cellars of Parliament. The tunnel scheme was quickly abandoned, however, either because of water from the Thames seeping into the tunnel, or because the going proved too difficult. Instead, Thomas Percy used his influence to gain access to cellars beneath Parliament, and into these cellars they secretly brought 36 barrels of gunpowder, which they carefully hid. The opening of Parliament was put off, but Catesby used the time to draw more men into the circle of conspirators, including Jesuit leaders, while Fawkes made trips to the Low Countries for fresh powder to replace that which was beginning to spoil. The Monteagle Letter On October 26, 1605, the whole conspiracy began to unravel.

A mysterious letter was sent to Lord Monteagle, a former Catholic supporter, warning him not to attend the opening of Parliament set for November 5. Monteagle, however, at once passed the letter on to Robert Cecil, the king's chief secretary. The conspirators found out about the letter; indeed they blamed one another for writing it. But still, they did not cancel their plans, convinced that the government knew nothing. On the night of November 4, Guy Fawkes was found in the cellars with the gunpowder. Fawkes was forced under torture to reveal the names of his fellow conspirators, most of whom were rounded up by the authorities near Holbeche House in Staffordshire. Robert Catesby, Percy, and Wright were shot and killed while attempting to evade arrest, but on January 27, 1606, Fawkes and seven others were brought to trial before Sir Edward Coke. Cecil, for his part, tried to blame the Jesuits for the plot, as that would generate support for his anti-Catholic policies. On January 30 four of the conspirators were put to death in St. Paul's churchyard.

The following day the remaining four were executed at the Old Palace Yard, Westminster. All eight men were hung, drawn, and quartered, that being the standard punishment for those convicted of treason. Catesby and his fellows who had died at Holbeche House were exhumed and their heads placed on pikes for public display. Cecil's conniving? Persistent rumour has implicated Robert Cecil directly in the Gunpowder Plot. The story goes that Cecil manufactured the plot in an attempt to discredit the Catholic cause. If that was indeed the case, it was a master stroke. Public opinion weighed in heavily against the Catholics, though most recusants were not in sympathy with the conspirators. In the climate of fear and paranoia following the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot, Cecil and his supporters were able to pass restrictive anti-Catholic legislation. Also, fear of Catholic plots was a constant theme throughout the Stuart years. The Gunpowder Plot is rembered each year on Guy Fawkes Night, November 5, when human effigies called "guys" are joyfully burned on bonfires across England.

Related: The Gunpowder Plot of 1605 - History Learning Site Home » Stuart England » The Gunpowder Plot of 1605 The Gunpowder Plot of 1605 Citation: C N Trueman "The Gunpowder Plot of 1605" historylearningsite.co.uk. The History Learning Site, 17 Mar 2015. 16 Aug 2016. In November 1605, the infamous Gunpowder Plot took place in which some Catholics, most famously Guy Fawkes, plotted to blow up James I, the first of the Stuart kings of England. The story is remembered each November 5th when ‘Guys’ are burned in a celebration known as “Bonfire Night”. The story appears to be very simple. Catholics in England had expected James to be more tolerant of them. In fact, he had proved to be the opposite and had ordered all Catholic priests to leave England. This so angered some Catholics that they decided to kill James and put his daughter Elizabeth on the throne ensuring that she was a Catholic.

This led to a plot to kill not only the king of England, James, but also everyone sitting in the Houses of Parliament at the same time as James was there when he opened Parliament on November 5th, 1605. Guy Fawkes and his fellow conspirators, having rented out a house right by the Houses of Parliament, managed to get 36 barrels of gunpowder into a cellar of the House of Lords. The other conspirators were: John Grant and the man who is said to have organised the whole plot Robert Catesby. The most famous picture of some the conspirators The explosive expert, Guy Fawkes, had been left in the cellars to set off the fuse. He was only caught when a group of guards decided to check the cellars at the last moment. Fawkes was arrested and sent to the Tower of London where he was tortured and eventually gave away the names of the fellow conspirators. Sir William Wade, Lieutenant of the Tower, had orders to use whatever means of torture was required to get information from Fawkes. The order came from James. Of those involved, some were shot as they were chased by the law such as Percy and Catesby.

Others were captured, sent to the Tower and, after a brief trial, eventually hung, drawn and quartered, with Fawkes, in January 1606. The signature of Guy Fawkes on his confession In celebration of his survival, James ordered that the people of England should have a great bonfire in the night on November 5th. This fire was traditionally topped off with an effigy of the pope rather than Guy Fawkes. His place at the top of the fire came in later as did fireworks. The East Sussex county town of Lewes still has the pope alongside Guy Fawkes when it comes to the effigies being burned. But is there more to this plot than just a small number of angry Catholics wanting to make a statement against the king, James? Some believe that the whole plot was a government conspiracy to convince James that Catholics could not be trusted. At the very least, some curious things happened when the story is looked at in detail. What is odd? We do know that James’ chief minister, Robert Cecil, the Earl of Salisbury, hated Catholics and saw them as a constant source of trouble.

Cecil also feared that there was a chance that James would be lenient with them during his reign and this he could not tolerate. That James only expelled priests was not good enough for Cecil. He wanted to remove Catholicism from England as he saw it as a threat. We know that James was terrified of a violent death; his childhood in Scotland had been fraught with danger including being kidnapped as a boy. What better way to get James to severely persecute the Catholics in England than to get him to believe that they had tried to kill him in this very violent manner? The government had a monopoly on gunpowder in this country and it was stored in places like the Tower of London. How did the conspirators get hold of 36 barrels of gunpowder without drawing attention to themselves? Did they get help from the government? How was the gunpowder moved across London from the Tower of London to Westminster (at least two miles distant) without anyone seeing it? The River Thames would not have been used as it could have lead to the gunpowder becoming damp and useless. Thirty six barrels would have been a sizeable quantity to move without causing suspicion.

Why were men who were known to be Catholics allowed to rent out a house so near to the Houses of Parliament? How did they move 36 barrels from that house to the cellar of the Houses of Parliament without anyone noticing along with hay, straw etc? Why, for the first time in history, was there a search of Parliament’s cellars that conveniently found “John Johnson” (as Guy Fawkes called himself) before he lit the fuse? Why was the soldier who killed Catesby and Percy at Holbeech House in the Midlands, given such a large pension for life (10p a day for life) when their arrest and torture was more desirable so that the names of any other conspirators might be found out? Some historians have pointed out these issues and claimed that the plotters were pawns in the hands of Robert Cecil and that he orchestrated the whole affair in his bid to get James to ban Catholics altogether. There are, however, counter-arguments to many of the above points. Gunpowder may have been a government monopoly but just as today, there was a black market for it. The conspirators would have had the money to pay for this and it could have been smuggled in from Catholic France, for example.

The south coast was riddled with smugglers havens. Fawkes could have used his contacts with Spain to acquire it. In many senses, this would not have been a difficult problem. Moving the gunpowder from the Tower to Westminster could have been done over a number of days, barrel by barrel, journey by journey. This would have attracted less attention though it did increase the chance of being caught as more journeys were being made. One theory put forward is that it was stored at a house owned by Catesby in Lambeth and moved barrel by barrel up the Thames at night to Westminster. dangerous and risky but the conspirators were motivated men and it could have happened. The conspirators used false names so hiring out property near to the Houses of Parliament would not have been that difficult. Thomas Percy had contacts in Parliament and these were almost certainly used to get the house there and later the cellar where the gunpowder was actually put. The soldier who shot Percy and Catesby was in a firefight in which he may have been shot and killed himself. Why risk your own life against such desperate people? Was the 10p a day for life merely a generous reward for services to a grateful king?

Also, if Fawkes and company had been set-up by, why did he not say so at his execution when he could have said something? Possibly he was not in a fit enough state to say anything; also who would have believed him as he had been castigated as the evil conspirator to kill the king? It may be that the conspirators simply acted alone and then got caught. The confession of Fawkes does not mention at all any claim that he was a dupe of the government. He himself stated that he was first approached by Thomas Wintour in Europe about the plot in 1604 and that he met the others when he returned to London. The only full confession about the plot from start to finish came from Thomas Wintour. He, too, makes no mention about being set-up etc. Two issues do cloud the story, however. The first is the so-called Monteagle Letter. One of the plotters was a man called Francis Tresham. Lord Monteagle was his cousin. On the evening of October 26th, a mysterious man brought a letter to Monteagle’s home just outside of London.

The letter was a clear warning for Monteagle not to turn up at the Houses of Parliament on the 5th November. In modern English the letter stated that Parliament would receive a terrible blow on that day and that those killed would not see who had done it to them. The letter was addressed to Monteagle but it was read out aloud by his servant. Why? Was Monteagle looking for a witness that he had received this letter? Monteagle went straight to Robert Cecil and informed him of what had happened. Cecil ordered a search of the cellars of Parliament on the night of November 4th. Those guards found Guy Fawkes. A second search the next day, ordered by James I, also found the explosives and Guy who was found to be in possession of matches. he was arrested. The other issue also involves Tresham. Here was an important member of the gang who could know a great deal about other conspirators who were not actually yet caught. Once arrested, he was locked in the Tower of London – England’s most feared and secure prison. Tresham was locked in a cell by himself. He died on December 23rd 1605, and he was found to have been poisoned.

How did he get the poison? Did he knowingly take it? Or did someone want to silence him before he talked? It is possible that Tresham had the poison on him and took it rather than suffer the butchery of being hung, drawn and quartered. If someone else had access to him, and fed him poisoned food or whatever, he would have been a very important person as only the most important would have had access to this valuable prisoner. We may never know the answers to the questions. There are some who support the government conspiracy line – others think it may simply have been an ambitious plan by a small number of Catholics that went very badly wrong for them all. Henry Garnet and the Gunpowder Plot Jesuits Father Henry Garnett. Wikimedia Commons Updated December 07, 2015. The Gunpowder Plot The Gunpowder Plot of 1605 was an attempt by Catholic rebels to kill Protestant King James I of England, his eldest son and much of the English court and government by exploding gunpowder beneath a session of the Houses of Parliament.

The plotters would then have seized the king’s younger children and formed a new, Catholic, government around which they hoped England’s Catholic minority would rise and rally. In many ways the plot was to have been a climax of Henry VIII's attempt to take control of the English church, and it's final failure, and Catholicism was heavily persecuted in England at the time, hence the desperation of plotters to rescue their faith and freedoms. The plot was dreamed up by a handful of plotters, who didn't initially involve Guy Fawkes, and then the plotters expanded as more and more were needed. continue reading below our video What are the Seven Wonders of the World Only now was Guy Fawkes included, because of his knowledge of explosions. He was very much the hired hand. The plotters might have tried to dig a tunnel underneath the Houses of Parliament, this is unclear, but then they moved on to hiring a room beneath the building and filling it with barrels of gunpowder. Guy Fawkes was to detonate it, while the rest put their coup into effect.

The plot failed when the government were tipped off (we still don't know by who) and the plotters were discovered, tracked, arrested and executed. The lucky were killed in a shoot out (which involved the plotters partly blowing themselves up by drying their gunpowder near a fire), the unlucky were hanged, drawn and quartered. More on the Gunpowder Plot The Jesuits are Blamed The conspirators feared that a violent anti-Catholic backlash would happen if the Plot failed, but this didn't occur; the King even acknowledged that the plot was due to a few fanatics. Instead, the persecution was limited to one very specific group, Jesuit priests, which the government decided to portray as the fanatics. Although the Jesuits were already illegal in England because they were a form of Catholic priest, they were especially hated by the government for encouraging people to remain true to Catholicism despite the legal onslaught aimed at turning them Protestant. For the Jesuits, suffering was an integral part of Catholicism, and not-compromising was a Catholic duty.

By portraying the Jesuits, not just as members of the Gunpowder Plotters, but as their leaders, the post-plot government of England hoped to alienate the priests from the mass of horrified Catholics. Unfortunately for two Jesuits, Fathers Garnet and Greenway, they did have a connection to the plot thanks to the machinations of leading conspirator Robert Catesby and would suffer as a result. Catesby and Henry Garnet Catesby's servant, Thomas Bates, reacted to news of the plot with horror and was only convinced once Catesby had sent him to give confession to Jesuit, and active rebel, Father Greenway. This incident convinced Catesby he needed a religious judgement to use as proof, and he approached the head of the English Jesuits, Father Garnet, who at this point was also a friend. Over dinner in London on June 8th Catesby led a discussion which enabled him to ask "whether for the good and promotion of the Catholic cause, the necessity of time and occasion so requiring, it be lawful or not, amongst many Nocents, to destroy and take away some innocents also".

Garnet, apparently thinking that Catesby was just pursuing an idle discussion, answered: "That if the advantages were greater on the side of the Catholics, by the destruction of innocents with the nocents, than by the preservation of both, it was doubtless lawful." (both cited from Haynes, The Gunpowder Plot, Sutton 1994, p. 62-63) Catesby now had 'the resolution of the case', his official religious justification, which he used to convince, among others, Everard Digby. Garnet and Greenway Garnet soon realized that Catesby meant, not only to kill someone important, but to do it in a particularly indiscriminate way and, although he had supported treasonous plots before, he was far from happy with Catesby's intent. Shortly after, Garnet actually found out exactly what this intent was: a distraught Father Greenway, the confessor to Catesby and other plotters, approached Garnet and begged the Superior to listen to his 'confession'. Garnet at first refused, guessing correctly that Greenway knew of Catesby’s plot, but he eventually relented and was told all.

Garnet Resolves to Stop Catesby Despite having lived, effectively on the run, in England for years, having heard of many plots and treasons, the Gunpowder Plot still deeply shocked Garnet, who believed it would lead to the ruin of him and all other English Catholics. He and Greenway resolved upon two methods of stopping Catesby: firstly Garnet sent Greenway back with a message expressively forbidding Catesby from acting; Catesby ignored it. Secondly, Garnet wrote to the Pope, appealing for a judgement on whether English Catholics could act violently. Unfortunately for Garnet, he felt bound by confession and could just give vague hints in his letters to the pope, and he received equally vague comments back which Catesby also ignored. Furthermore, Catesby actively delayed several of Garnet's messages, stranding them in Brussels. Garnet Fails On July 24th 1605 Garnet and Catesby met face to face at White Webbs in Enfield, a Catholic safehouse and meeting place rented by Garnet's ally Anne Vaux. Here, Garnet and Vaux tried again to forbid Catesby from acting; they failed, and they knew it.

The plot was went ahead. Prev BBC - iWonder - The Gunpowder Plot: Three years in the making The Gunpowder Plot: Three years in the making 1601-1603 30-31 January 1606The plotters are hanged, drawn and quartered The greatest terror plot We all know the story of Guy Fawkes and how he was caught as he tried to blow up the House of Lords with gunpowder. But it took more than one man on a single night to nearly change the course of British history. Thirteen conspirators conceived a terrorist plot on an unprecedented scale. They would blow up Parliament, which would wipe out the King and the whole establishment and trigger a popular uprising. Plotter Thomas Wintour's confession reveals all. 1601-1603 The plotters gather You need to have JavaScript enabled to view this clip. Meet the plotters: Leader Catesby, Wright the swordsman, Percy the insider, Wintour the diplomat and Fawkes the bomb maker. Richard Lintern narrates.

Transcript (PDF 248k) A circle of young, dashing and disenchanted Catholic gentlemen meet regularly to discuss the future of England. Unlike the majority of Catholics who were loyal to the Crown, they hope to overthrow the Protestant monarchy. Some of them take part in the failed rebellion by the Earl of Essex against the government of Elizabeth I. They are imprisoned but later released after paying heavy fines. A new Protestant monarch James I of England did not reverse the anti-Catholic laws following his coronation. When Elizabeth I dies, her third cousin, James VI of Scotland, becomes also King James I of England. He announces plans to unite his two realms but faces strong opposition both north and south of the border. Although James is a Protestant he is the son of the late Catholic, Mary Queen of Scots. Catholics are hopeful that her son will be more sympathetic to their plight. Catesby starts planning the Gunpowder Plot You need to have JavaScript enabled to view this clip. Robert Catesby reveals his grand plan to Thomas Wintour in this dramatisation from BBC Two's Gunpowder 5/11: The Greatest Terror Plot.

Transcript (PDF 149k) James I orders Catholic priests to leave the country. He continues the practice of fining Catholics who won’t attend the Church of England services. In February, ringleader Robert Catesby, his cousin Thomas Wintour and John Wright meet in London and start their plans. Wintour travels to Flanders, under Spanish rule at the time, to seek Spain’s support. [Catesby] had bethought him of a way... to deliver us from all our bonds, and without any foreign help to replant again the Catholic religion. Thomas Wintour's written confession Guy Fawkes is recruited as the explosives expert You need to have JavaScript enabled to view this clip. Thomas Wintour recruits Guy Fawkes in Flanders. Transcript (PDF 150k) After years as bitter rivals Spain wants peace with England and will not aid the plotters. While he’s in Flanders, Thomas Wintour meets Guy Fawkes, who went to school with the plotter John Wright. Fawkes, who goes by the Italian name of Guido, is fighting for the Spanish army in Flanders and is an explosives expert.

He is an English nationalist who hates the Scots and any talk of union. The two men sail back to England. Meanwhile the King and Parliament introduce legislation refusing Catholics the right to receive rent or make wills. 20 May 1604 The plotters swear an oath of secrecy You need to have JavaScript enabled to view this clip. The plotters, who are all devout men, swear an oath to each other on a religious primer. Transcript (PDF 148k) Thomas Wintour and Guy Fawkes meet ringleader Robert Catesby and his friend and fellow plotter John Wright in a London pub. At the Duck and Drake Inn they are joined by Wright's brother-in-law Thomas Percy. Together these plotters create a core of five. They swear an oath of secrecy on a religious primer. June-October 1604 Thomas Percy secures a house near Parliament You need to have JavaScript enabled to view this clip. Guy Fawkes poses as Thomas Percy's servant John Johnson. The gunpowder is smuggled to Westminster You need to have JavaScript enabled to view this clip. How did the plotters manage to pack explosives under the House of Lords? Follow the gunpowder trail.

Richard Lintern narrates. Transcript (PDF 209k) The plotters' tunnel reaches the main foundations of the House of Lords. Digging slows down as they fear the noise may alert guards. The gunpowder that was in storage across the river in Catesby’s house is transported to Percy’s house where the entrance of the tunnel is. The plotters receive funding from Thomas Wintour’s brother Robert. Their brother-in-law John Grant joins the plot. He’s put in charge of preparing horses and weapons for a Midlands uprising. The Cellar was to be let, viewing the commodity thereof for our own purpose, Percy went and hired the same for yeerly rent. Guy Fawkes' confession, extracted under torture 25 March 1605 A vault is rented under the House of Lords You need to have JavaScript enabled to view this clip. The plotters secure a vault directly under the House of Lords. Transcript (PDF 149k) Thomas Percy is able to rent a vault that is directly under the House of Lords so the plotters no longer need to carry on tunnelling.

Instead, Guy Fawkes starts moving the barrels of gunpowder and kindling to the vault, always at night, and conceals them. Summer 1605 The plotters bring in extra money men You need to have JavaScript enabled to view this clip. Two new recruits join the plotters. I say they shall receive a terrible blow this parliament and yet they shall not see who hurts them. Unsigned letter received by Lord Monteagle on 26 October 1605 30 October 1605 The plotters continue despite the new risk You need to have JavaScript enabled to view this clip. Robert Catesby accuses Francis Tresham of sending the letter to Lord Monteagle. Transcript (PDF 224k) Robert Catesby suspects his cousin Francis Tresham of sending the letter. He confronts him and calls him a traitor. Tresham denies the allegations but urges Catesby to now abandon the plot. Catesby gets Guy Fawkes to check on the cellar. Nothing has been moved. The plotters are reassured.

1-3 November 1605 King James I is shown the letter and orders an investigation The letter sent to Lord Monteagle warns of a 'terrible blowe this parliament' will receive. King James is shown the Monteagle letter by his chief minister Robert Cecil. The King suspects the words ‘terrible blowe’ hint at the use of gunpowder and orders an investigation. The Privy Council discuss how they can search the parliament building without warning off the conspirators. Catesby is unaware of this and decides the plot should go ahead. 4 November 1605 The king's men search Parliament's vaults Topfoto A search party discovers Guy Fawkes loitering near the vault A covert search of the Parliament vaults takes place. The search party spot a large amount of firewood in a cellar. The attendant, Guy Fawkes, under the alias John Johnson, tells them that it belongs to his master, royal bodyguard Thomas Percy. 5 November 1605 Guy Fawkes is arrested and questioned Getty Guy Fawkes' typical signature (above) and following torture (below). He adopted the Italian version of his name 'Guido'. The king orders a second search.

Just after midnight, Fawkes is found dressed for departure and in possession of fuses and matches. He’s arrested. A more thorough search of the cellar now reveals 36 gunpowder barrels. Fawkes is dragged to King James for interrogation. He still maintains he’s called John Johnson and denies any knowledge of the barrels. The King authorises the use of torture to extract a confession. Johnson [Fawkes] … had placed Thirty-six Barrels of Gunpowder in the Vault under the House, with a Purpose to blow King, and the whole Company. Journal of the House of Commons, 5 November 1605 6-7 November 1605 The plotters flee to the Midlands Mary Evans The plotters flee to Dunchurch in the Midlands on 5 November and steal horses from Warwick that evening. Most of the plotters in London, including Thomas Wintour and Thomas Percy, flee to Dunchurch in Warwickshire. They move across the Midlands trying to raise men but the planned uprising comes to nothing. The plotters seize horses from Warwick, but Princess Elizabeth is then whisked from a manor nearby to safety in Coventry.

Catesby decides to make a last stand in the Midlands and persuades the key plotters to join him. The gentler tortours are to be first used unto him... and so by degrees proceeding to the worst, and so God speed your goode worke. King James I on Guy Fawkes 8 November, 1605 Catesby and Percy die in a shoot-out You need to have JavaScript enabled to view this clip. Robert Catesby and his fellow plotters vow to die for their cause. Transcript (PDF 149k) The remaining plotters meet at Holbeche House in Staffordshire. The gunpowder they had with them was damp and they try to dry it by the fire. It explodes and John Grant, Thomas Wintour’s cousin, is blinded. The house is surrounded by 200 of the Sheriff of Worcestershire’s men. Catesby, Percy and the Wright brothers die in the subsequent gun fight. The rest are wounded but captured alive. They are taken to the Tower of London for interrogation.

November-December 1605 The surviving plotters make their confessions The Tower of London, HRP Plotter Ambrose Rookwood was held at Martin Tower during his imprisonment where he carved his name. Fawkes makes a confession under torture on 9 November. It is trumped by a later fuller confession by Thomas Wintour during interrogation at the Tower of London. Thomas Wintour incriminates all the other plotters apart from his brother Robert. Thomas Percy’s patron, the Earl of Northumberland, is arrested, but with Percy dead there is no-one to implicate or clear him. He will remain imprisoned for the next 16 years. Gunpowder Plot - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com Google Gunpowder Plot Discovered At about midnight on the night of November 4-5, Sir Thomas Knyvet, a justice of the peace, found Guy Fawkes lurking in a cellar under the Parliament building and ordered the premises searched. Thirty-six barrels of gunpowder were found, and Fawkes was taken into custody. After being tortured, Fawkes revealed he was a participant in an English Catholic conspiracy to annihilate England’s Protestant government and replace it with Catholic leadership.

Did You Know? From 1604 to 1611, King James I sponsored an English translation of the Bible that became known as the Authorized King James Version. What became known as the Gunpowder Plot was organized by Robert Catesby, an English Catholic whose father had been persecuted by Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) for refusing to conform to the Church of England. Guy Fawkes had converted to Catholicism, and his religious zeal led him to fight in the army of Catholic Spain in the Protestant Netherlands. Catesby and the handful of other plotters rented a cellar that extended under the House of Lords building, and Fawkes planted the gunpowder there. However, as the November 5 opening meeting of Parliament approached, Lord Monteagle (1575-1622), the brother-in-law of one of the conspirators, received an anonymous letter warning him not to attend Parliament on November 5. Monteagle alerted the government, and hours before the attack was to have taken place Fawkes and the explosives were found. By torturing Fawkes, King James’ government learned the identities of his co-conspirators.

During the next few weeks, English authorities killed or captured all the plotters and put the survivors on trial Gunpowder Plot: Aftermath Fawkes and the other surviving chief conspirators were sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered in London. Moments before the start of his execution, on January 31, 1606, Fawkes jumped from a ladder while climbing to the gallows, breaking his neck and dying. Following the failed Gunpowder Plot, new laws were instituted in England that eliminated the right of Catholics to vote, among other repressive restrictions. Guy Fawkes Night In 1606, Parliament established November 5 as a day of public thanksgiving. Guy Fawkes Night (also referred to as Guy Fawkes Day and Bonfire Night) now is celebrated annually across Great Britain on November 5 in remembrance of the Gunpowder Plot. As dusk falls, villagers and city dwellers across Britain light bonfires, set off fireworks and burn effigies of Fawkes.

Tags King James learns of gunpowder plot - Nov 05, 1605 - HISTORY.com King James learns of gunpowder plot Share this: King James learns of gunpowder plot Author King James learns of gunpowder plot URL Publisher A+E Networks Early in the morning, King James I of England learns that a plot to explode the Parliament building has been foiled, hours before he was scheduled to sit with the rest of the British government in a general parliamentary session. At about midnight on the night of November 4-5, Sir Thomas Knyvet, a justice of the peace, found Guy Fawkes lurking in a cellar under the Parliament building and ordered the premises searched. Some 20 barrels of gunpowder were found, and Fawkes was taken into custody. During a torture session on the rack, Fawkes revealed that he was a participant in an English Catholic conspiracy to annihilate England’s Protestant government and replace it with Catholic leadership. What became known as the Gunpowder Plot was organized by Robert Catesby, an English Catholic whose father had been persecuted by Queen Elizabeth I for refusing to conform to the Church of England.

Guy Fawkes had converted to Catholicism, and his religious zeal led him to fight in the Spanish army in the Netherlands. Catesby and the handful of other plotters rented a cellar that extended under Parliament, and Fawkes planted the gunpowder there, hiding the barrels under coal and wood. As the November 5 meeting of Parliament approached, Catesby enlisted more English Catholics into the conspiracy, and one of these, Francis Tresham, warned his Catholic brother-in-law Lord Monteagle not to attend Parliament that day. Monteagle alerted the government, and hours before the attack was to have taken place Fawkes and the explosives were found. By torturing Fawkes, King James’ government learned of the identities of his co-conspirators. During the next few weeks, English authorities killed or captured all the plotters and put the survivors on trial, along with a few innocent English Catholics. Guy Fawkes himself was sentenced, along with the other surviving chief conspirators, to be hanged, drawn, and quartered in London.

Moments before the start of his gruesome execution, on January 31, 1606, he jumped from a ladder while climbing to the hanging platform, breaking his neck and dying instantly. In 1606, Parliament established November 5 as a day of public thanksgiving. Today, Guy Fawkes Day is celebrated across Great Britain every year on November 5 in remembrance of the Gunpowder Plot. As dusk falls, villagers and city dwellers across Britain light bonfires, set off fireworks, and burn effigies of Guy Fawkes, celebrating his failure to blow Parliament and James I to kingdom come. Related Videos The Gunpowder Plot: A Catholic Assasination Attempt on King James I A CATHOLIC ASSASINATION ATTEMPT ON KING JAMES I A TRACT Or Treason's Master-Peece, the Powder Plot London 1617. Francis Herring The Catholic religion hated King James I and tried to kill him. King James was a staunch opponent of popery and his zeal for the word of God was just as fervent. As products of the Reformation period, King James I and his contemporaries knew well the Catholic history of intrigue, torture, and murder.

This tract reminds us of how unnatural today's alliance of "evangelicals" and Catholics really is. Despite numerous attempts to hinder him, King James did not treat his Catholic subjects unfairly. Even in the aftermath of the Gunpowder Plot, the King said: "...it was the...blind superstition of their errors in religion, that led them to this desperate devise; yet does it not follow, that all professing that Romish religion were guilty of the same..." THE TRACT This tract (created a few years after the Gunpowder Plot) shows a title of "The Clouds of Ignorance and Error" with eight heads arranged in a circle. The heads represent popery, e.g. the pope and Catholic officials, as well as a devil. Each head breathes out his threatenings and blasphemies, "Opposing the Truth" "Daggers, Daggs, Poison Kill All" "Blasphemies and Lies" The Gunpowder Plot: A Roman Catholic Assasination Attempt on King James I A ROMAN CATHOLIC ASSASINATION ATTEMPT ON KING JAMES I Mischeefes Mysterie: Or Treason's Master-Peece, the Powder Plot London 1617.

(click picture to see tract in larger size) Francis Herring King James was a staunch opponent of popery (pope worship). As products of the Reformation period, King James I and his contemporaries knew well Rome's history of intrigue, torture, and murder. This tract reminds us of how unnatural today's alliance of "evangelicals" and Catholics really is. King James himself repeatedly identified the pope as antichrist. Despite numerous attempts to hinder him, King James did not treat his Catholic subjects unfairly. Even in the aftermath of the Gunpowder Plot, the King said: "...it was the...blind superstition of their errors in religion, that led them to this desperate devise; yet does it not follow, that all professing that Romish religion were guilty of the same..." THE TRACT This tract (created a few years after the Gunpowder Plot) shows a title of "The Clouds of Ignorance and Error" with eight heads arranged in a circle. The heads represent popery, e.g. the pope and Catholic officials, as well as a devil.

Each head breathes out his threatenings and blasphemies, "Opposing the Truth" "Daggers, Daggs, Poison Kill All" "Blasphemies and Lies"

Question: The Gunpowder Plot was an attempt to kill which king of England?
Answer: James I